GFBiochemicals hires key staff

GFBiochemicals has appointed three new senior team members as the company gains momentum, producing levulinic acid at commercial scale. Alexander Krapivin and Daniela Ribezzo both join as Global Business Development Managers. Bart Engendahl brings his R&D expertise as Senior Scientist to the company’s technology and application development.

Mr Krapivin was previously at Dow Corning and has more than 15 years’ experience in B2B for the speciality chemicals industry. Mrs Ribezzo has worked in commercial departments for more than 11 years at leading chemical and engineering companies, most recently at Polyscope.

Mr Engendahl joins from DSM, where he developed processes for polymer intermediates derived from biomass, resulting in several patents. He has also co-authored two publications on the hydrogenation of levulinic acid.

CEO Maxim Katinov said: "These new hires demonstrate clearly that GFBiochemicals is attracting exceptional talent. They join an already outstanding team, developing the market for levulinic acid and derivatives following the start-up of our 10,000t/ yr facility.”